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Becca Major (96 KP) created a post in Asian Drama Fanclub
Jan 24, 2019
The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated A Faraway Smell of Lemon in Books
Oct 6, 2020
Hello, my name is Davida and I'm a Rachel Joyce addict. That's why after reading "Perfect" I couldn't wait for her next novel and had to buy this short story. Once again, she doesn't disappoint! You can read my review of this here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/07/21/the-scent-of-letting-go/
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Hello Again in Books
Dec 26, 2018 (Updated Dec 26, 2018)
Held my Interest (1 more)
Interesting Premise
Not enough character backstory (2 more)
Pacing all over the place
Not very paranormal
Not Very Paranormal
I love the premise of Hello Again by Stan Schatt. I'm very much into ghosts, so I knew I had to read this book. When it came up for review, I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, this book was just okay, nothing special.
The plot for Hello Again sounded interesting enough. I loved the idea of a guy getting texts from his dead girlfriend. However, there just wasn't enough of the paranormal aspect for me which was disappointing. Personally, I wouldn't really label Hello Again as a paranormal read at all. It was fun to read about though. I kept trying to figure out who was sending the texts from Amber's phone after she died especially since they were coming from her apartment. I also found it interesting to read about Bill's cafe and how he was struggling to get the money to renew the lease. Anyway, the story did take awhile to get going before he meets his girlfriend, Amber Love, at a speed dating event. Amber is very mysterious and doesn't reveal too much of herself to Ben. I found their relationship to be a bit forced and stagnant myself. They hadn't even been on very many dates before she is blown up by a car bomb. What I found weird was that Ben never even googled Amber's name when he found out she had given him a false last name. If it were me, this day in age, I would have been googling her as soon as I had free time. I also felt like we need more information about how Ben found out about Amber's funeral. I will say that by the time this book ended, all of my questions were answered. There are no cliff hangers, and I felt like what was supposed to be the plot twist was too predictable.
I never really connected to any of the characters in Hello Again, and as much as I tried, I never really found myself caring for any of them. I would have liked a bit more backstory into Ben and Amber. I would have liked it if Ben and Amber's relationship had a chance to flourish instead of them just going on about 3 or 4 dates. I would have even liked more backstory for Josh, the psychic. It was hard to connect to these characters when I didn't know much about them. Oh, one of the characters is described as looking like a terrorist and of Middle Eastern descent. I found this to be stereotypical and thought that some readers may find this offensive.
The pacing for Hello Again starts out slow. About halfway through, the pacing does pick up, but I feel it does go too fast in many places which left scratching my head wondering what had happened. Sometimes, I had to go back to see if I missed anything which I didn't. The pacing just didn't flow very well in the second half. However, this book did hold my attention until the very end though, but I wasn't in a rush to finish it. Luckily, it's a short read.
Trigger warnings for Hello Again include some profanity, a couple of sex scenes although they aren't graphic, violence, murder, and alcoholic drinking.
All in all, Hello Again was an okay albeit disappointing read for me. I had been expecting more of a paranormal read which this really wasn't. I could never connect to the characters which left me feeling empty. However, I did find that this book held my attention on the plus side. Because it held my attention and was a short read, I would recommend Hello Again by Stan Schatt for those aged 18+ who are looking for a short read.
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(A special thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with an eBook of Hello Again in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
The plot for Hello Again sounded interesting enough. I loved the idea of a guy getting texts from his dead girlfriend. However, there just wasn't enough of the paranormal aspect for me which was disappointing. Personally, I wouldn't really label Hello Again as a paranormal read at all. It was fun to read about though. I kept trying to figure out who was sending the texts from Amber's phone after she died especially since they were coming from her apartment. I also found it interesting to read about Bill's cafe and how he was struggling to get the money to renew the lease. Anyway, the story did take awhile to get going before he meets his girlfriend, Amber Love, at a speed dating event. Amber is very mysterious and doesn't reveal too much of herself to Ben. I found their relationship to be a bit forced and stagnant myself. They hadn't even been on very many dates before she is blown up by a car bomb. What I found weird was that Ben never even googled Amber's name when he found out she had given him a false last name. If it were me, this day in age, I would have been googling her as soon as I had free time. I also felt like we need more information about how Ben found out about Amber's funeral. I will say that by the time this book ended, all of my questions were answered. There are no cliff hangers, and I felt like what was supposed to be the plot twist was too predictable.
I never really connected to any of the characters in Hello Again, and as much as I tried, I never really found myself caring for any of them. I would have liked a bit more backstory into Ben and Amber. I would have liked it if Ben and Amber's relationship had a chance to flourish instead of them just going on about 3 or 4 dates. I would have even liked more backstory for Josh, the psychic. It was hard to connect to these characters when I didn't know much about them. Oh, one of the characters is described as looking like a terrorist and of Middle Eastern descent. I found this to be stereotypical and thought that some readers may find this offensive.
The pacing for Hello Again starts out slow. About halfway through, the pacing does pick up, but I feel it does go too fast in many places which left scratching my head wondering what had happened. Sometimes, I had to go back to see if I missed anything which I didn't. The pacing just didn't flow very well in the second half. However, this book did hold my attention until the very end though, but I wasn't in a rush to finish it. Luckily, it's a short read.
Trigger warnings for Hello Again include some profanity, a couple of sex scenes although they aren't graphic, violence, murder, and alcoholic drinking.
All in all, Hello Again was an okay albeit disappointing read for me. I had been expecting more of a paranormal read which this really wasn't. I could never connect to the characters which left me feeling empty. However, I did find that this book held my attention on the plus side. Because it held my attention and was a short read, I would recommend Hello Again by Stan Schatt for those aged 18+ who are looking for a short read.
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(A special thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with an eBook of Hello Again in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) created a post in Smashbomb Council
Nov 6, 2019
Kevin Phillipson (9958 KP) rated Scream (2022) in Movies
Jan 20, 2022
Melissa Barrera (1 more)
The gore
Hello Sidney
Watched today I liked it it alot as a long time fan of the scream movies going back to to 1997 when I first saw the first one and loving it even getting the twist after the first half an hour and seeing all the sequels as well at the cinema over the years the second film is still my favourite of all the five. When I heard the team behind ready or not was gonna make this movie I was excited cause I loved that movie so I knew what I was gonna get with one. Any way on to the film everything I would expect from a scream movie the gore the creepy voice on the phone played once again by Roger l jackson all the talk about sequels reboots and other stuff not forgetting the return of Sidney Gail and dewey it wouldn't be the without them . I also liked at the end when they put for wes a fitting tribute to wes craven. Also once again worked out the twist again but I won't give it away here spoilers
ashezbookz (32 KP) rated Eliza and Her Monsters in Books
Jul 5, 2018
5/5 applauding stars for Eliza, oh .. oh my, can I just say that the pie portion of this book was my absolute favourite thing I have read in a while - like how adorable and cute and just .. ugh I want to go back and just re-read that portion of the book again and again it was just too darn EVERYTHING.
This book was so good - to me - and adorable and sweet and.. at the end a bit frustrating (hello Wallace it's not all about YOU). Anxiety is a witch and panic attacks are no joke, and when I first had one I was like, what the F I went to a walk in clinic said my heart rate was just insane and I felt dizzy and like I was going to faint and they were like easy peasy diagnosis. I was like, girl, I get you this was ...I'll definitely re-read, recommend, hug, love, adore this book forever.
This book was so good - to me - and adorable and sweet and.. at the end a bit frustrating (hello Wallace it's not all about YOU). Anxiety is a witch and panic attacks are no joke, and when I first had one I was like, what the F I went to a walk in clinic said my heart rate was just insane and I felt dizzy and like I was going to faint and they were like easy peasy diagnosis. I was like, girl, I get you this was ...I'll definitely re-read, recommend, hug, love, adore this book forever.
I loved this book, but then again I am a dork when it comes it useless trivia. Let me tell you this book is FULL of it!
It is not a book you would typically sit down & read cover to cover (unless you're a trivia buff like me of course!) It is designed similar to an encyclopedia. The countries of the world are listed in alphabetical order & there are strange facts about each country. The listing for each country also lists how to say hello & good-bye in the native language, World Heritage Sites, etc. There is a map at the back too which shows you where the countries are located.
All in all it was an enjoyable, fascinating read, though I doubt it would be something everyone could really sink their teeth into.
It is not a book you would typically sit down & read cover to cover (unless you're a trivia buff like me of course!) It is designed similar to an encyclopedia. The countries of the world are listed in alphabetical order & there are strange facts about each country. The listing for each country also lists how to say hello & good-bye in the native language, World Heritage Sites, etc. There is a map at the back too which shows you where the countries are located.
All in all it was an enjoyable, fascinating read, though I doubt it would be something everyone could really sink their teeth into.
David McK (3207 KP) rated Civil War II in Books
Jan 28, 2019
The original Civil War storyline - which sees Captain America and Iron Man/Tony Stark come down on different side of the ethical debate over whether Super-powered individuals should be subject to governmental oversight - was adopted for the 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe film 'Captain America: Civil War'.
I could very easily see this being adopted for a later film, after the as-yet-unfinished 'Infinity War'. Once again, we have a split in the super-hero community, this time brought about by the discovery of a new Inhuman who appears to be able to see the future -on the one hand, we have those who believe that they have to do whatever they can to stop those visions coming true (even if it means arresting the individual before the crime: hello, 'Minority Report'!) whilst on the other we have those that believe these are only potential futures, and that, well, the crime has to come before the punishment!
I could very easily see this being adopted for a later film, after the as-yet-unfinished 'Infinity War'. Once again, we have a split in the super-hero community, this time brought about by the discovery of a new Inhuman who appears to be able to see the future -on the one hand, we have those who believe that they have to do whatever they can to stop those visions coming true (even if it means arresting the individual before the crime: hello, 'Minority Report'!) whilst on the other we have those that believe these are only potential futures, and that, well, the crime has to come before the punishment!
Emily (1430 KP) rated The Running Man (1987) in Movies
Jul 8, 2020
Cheesy but great
Quite possibly the cheesiest Arnie film of all time, but that's what makes it so good. Arnie plays an ex-cop who refuses to fire upon unarmed civilians, but he gets overwhelmed by his team mates and the video afterwards gets edited to make it look like he was the one doing it and he gets thrown into a labour camp style prison. Eventually he and some others escape, he goes back to his old flat (which is now rented by a female journalist). Things happen, he eventually gets recaptured but again the footage is doctored but this time the journalist realises things aren't what they seem. All of the characters end up on a TV show called The Running Man, which seems to be contenders Vs characters in terrible costumes. This is where the fun begins. So many brilliant one-liners throughout the film (mostly from Arnie, but a few others) and just pure 'good guy wins, bad guy gets what's coming to him' cheese. Brilliant for an easy-watching film to laugh and cheer at! And for those that have seen it, all I need to add is "Hello Christmas Tree!"
